Territory



(No Model.)

- S. EHBNGER.

CAN OPENER.

Patented July 19, 1892.

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A ITOHN E Y8.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SMITH EHENGER, OF PARK CITY, UTAH TERRITORY.

CAN-OPENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 479,256, dated July 19, 1892.

Application filed February 5,1892;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, SMITH EHENGER, of Park City, in the county of Summit and Territory of Utah, have invented a new and Improved Oombination-Tool', of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in combination-tools; and its object is to produce a cheap, simple, durable, and convenient tool, which is especially adapted for use as a canopener, but which may also be used as a corkscrew or scraper. v

To this end my invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the tool embodying my invention, showing it as adapted for use as a can-opener. Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a cross-section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a similar section, but with the shank of the corkscrew turned at right angles to the handle so as to spread apart the members thereof; and Fig. 6 is a cross-section through the cutting-blades on the line 6 6 of Fig. 2.

The tool is provided with a handle 10, composed of the two members 11 and 12, which lie norm ally close together and which are concave on their inner sides, so as to fit nicely on the shank of the corkscrew, as described below. Near the outer end of the handle the members 11 and 12 diverge, as shown at 13, and the outer ends of these diverging parts are connected by the end portion 14, the entire handle being preferably composed of a single piece of spring metal bent to the required shape. The members 11 and 12 are widened near the outer end of the handle to give it the necessary strength. The widened. triangular portion of the outer end of the handle formed of the diverging parts 13 and the end portion 1a enables the handle to be securely grasped, and it also gives the necessary strength and tension to the spring metal of Serial No. 420,436. (No model.)

the handle, so that the members 11 and 12 will be forced firmly toward each other. The end portion 14 of the tool is ground to an edge on two sides, and it is used as a scraper for scraping the bottoms of pots, kettles, 850. At one end of the tool the member 11 of the handle terminatesin the cutting-blades 15,which have two edges, so that the tool maybe used either side up, and which are substantially parallel with each other, as shown in Fig. 2. The cutting-blades 15 are of an elliptical shape and terminate in points 16, which diverge and which enable the tool to be easily applied to a com mon fruit-can, as the pointed blades may be easily push ed through the ends of the can, and the diverging arrangement of the blades enables one blade to cut through the end of the can near one side, while the other blade will fit snugly upon the exterior of the can and act as a guide. The end of the member 11 is curved and concave between the cutting-blades, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the tool will fit nicely upon the can, and the blades converge near the middle, as shown at 17, to enable them to be held close enough together, so that the blade doing the cutting will always be very near to the side of the can. The blades are fiat on the inside, as shown in Fig. 6, and are thickest in the middle, as shown in the same figure, this arrangement enabling them to out well, and also giving them the necessary strength.

The blades may be used for removing the wires from bottle-necks and stoppers, as one blade may be thrust between the wire and the wire may be cut or broken by twisting it over the cutting-blades.

A corkscrew 18 of common form is used in connection with the tool, or rather forms a part thereof, the corkscrew having a shank 19, of ovoidal cross-section, which fits snugly between the concaved sides of the members 11 and 12, and which at one end has a laterally-extending pin 20, which forms the pivot of the corkscrew and which enters a hole in the member 11, as shown in Fig. '3. When the shank 19 extends longitudinally of the handle, as it does when the corkscrew is in either a closed or open position, the pressure of the two members of the handle upon it serves to hold it in place. When the corkscrew is open, the shank 19 will be held between the two cuttingblades 15, which will serve to brace it against lateral movement, and the free end of the member 12 will also press downward upon it and prevent it from moving at right angles to the blades. When the corkscrew is opened, it is swung around at right angles to the cutting-blades 15, and when swung in this position the shank 19 will pass between the straight inner portions of the members 11 and 12, thus spreading them, as shown in Fig. 5, and this will change the relative position of the shank 19 and the member 11, owing to the loose pivot of the shank, and the shank 19 will thus be enabled to clear the cutting-blades 15; but when it is straightened out, so as to form, practically, a prolongation of the handle 10, it will again enter the concave portions of the handle and will be held firmly in position between the blades.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A combination-tool comprising a springhandle having longitudinally-separable members of unequal lengths, the longer member terminating in cutting-blades, and a corkscrew adapted to fold longitudinally between the members and having a pivot connection with one member of the handle, substantially as described.

2. A combination-tool comprising a longitudinal separable handle having an enlarged outer end formed into a scraper and adapted to exert a spring action on the handle members and having one of the said members provided at one end with cutting-blades, and a corkscrew adapted to extend longitudinally between the members, said corkscrew being pivoted to one member of the handle, substantially as described.

3. A combination-tool comprising a longitudinallyseparable handle having an enlarged outer end formed into a scraper and adapted to exert a spring action on the members of 'the handle, and a corkscrew having its shank pivoted between the members of the handle, substantially as described.

SMITH EHENGER. Witnesses:

JAMES F. PEARCE, MILO A. I-IURTLEFF. 

